


It Was The Soup

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alpha Peter Parker, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Getting Together, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Misunderstandings, Omega Tony Stark, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-10 22:48:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17434934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Peter lies about being sick because he's out of suppressants, and he doesn't trust himself to be around Tony without purring and following him around like a puppy. Of course then Tony shows up at his apartment with soup and then Peter goes into a rut.





	It Was The Soup

Peter held his breath when he got the first whiff of a tantalizing omega. He was on patrol tonight, he couldn't afford to get distracted checking someone out instead of doing his job. He normally got super-strength suppressants from Wade so that he didn't have to worry, but Wade had been out of town for the last two months, and Peter's supply had run out a couple days ago.

He'd texted Tony saying that he was sick so he wouldn't worry, but Peter would have to think of a better excuse if Wade didn't show up soon.

He had to take another breath before whoever was passing by had left, and his eyes fluttered close at the scent. God that was- wow. His nose twitched and his brow furrowed as something niggled the back of his mind. Was that- Tony?

His arm shot out and he started swinging over before it even registered what he was doing. He stopped the next building over and saw as Tony knocked on his door, shifting a bag in his arms. A minute later, after receiving no answer-- obviously, since Peter was on the roof of the next building watching him-- he tried again, knocking louder this time.

Peter looked around to make sure no bad guys were waiting in the woodwork, then leaped over. He landed in a quiet crouch on top of his building, then swung down into the stairwell. "Tony?"

He startled, spinning to face Peter with his hand starting to come up like he had a repulsor on. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Jesus Christ Spidey I have a heart condition you're not supposed to scare me." He tilted his head in confusion. "I thought you were sick?"

"Uh." Caught in the lie, Peter rubbed at the back of his head. It made a weird squeaky noise that only he heard, and he winced. "Yeah I was feeling better so I decided to go out."

"You told me this morning that you could barely stand." The bag drooped from Tony's arm to nearly dragging on the floor. He swallowed thickly, and he probably thought that Peter couldn't see the way his expression dropped with the dim lighting in the stairwell. "Guess you don't really need soup then."

"You brought me soup?"

"Bucky said that's what people eat when they're sick," he mumbled. "You know," Tony said, back to normal volume, "if you want some days off you can just ask. Hell, even Steve takes days off now. I'll just-" he motioned vaguely with the bag of soup before setting it down by Peter's door.

"Wait!"

Tony paused, turning back to face him.

"I'm out of suppressants," he admitted, shame-faced.

"You're out of suppressants and you thought that going on patrol throughout the entire city was a good idea."

"It... made sense at the time," he said weakly. He also couldn't admit that he wasn't afraid of anyone out there, he was afraid of what he'd do around Tony specifically.

Tony sighed, shaking his head mournfully. "Peter, oh Peter, what would you do without me. Get in here," he said, nodding towards Peter's apartment. When Peter hesitated, he added, "I can always call for the suit and bridal carry you somewhere safe."

Peter had... a bit of a thing for the armor, so he gave up without a fight. He had a key tucked in his suit, but it took a little finagling to get out. Because Tony was nice, he didn't stare at Peter the entire time he was doing it, opting to pretend to check for dirt under his fingernails.

Tony had been to Peter's place before, but he'd known Tony was coming then and had had time to clean and try and make his shit hole apartment look a little less grungy. Admittedly, he didn't know why he'd even tried because there was no way he was going to impress Tony with the state of his apartment given where and how Tony lived. Tony didn't even look around to judge, just slid his shoes off and set the bag on the table before going to the kitchen to find clean silverware.

"Change into something more comfortable," Tony called, poking through drawers.

Peter felt a zing of interest even as his rational mind told him that Tony didn't mean it that way. He pulled off his mask, feeling his hair automatically poof out in freedom. He could smell Tony even better now without the barrier over his nose though, and he knew that he should explain before it got out of hand. Or at least give an explanation that got his point across without baring his heart. "Uh Tony?" he said, rolling his mask between his still covered fingers.

"Yeah?" He made a noise of triumph as he pulled two spoons free, holding them aloft like a treasure found.

He looked so happy, a light in his eyes and a small smile on his face, that Peter couldn't bring himself to kick him out. He swallowed, feeling longing in his chest so strong it was a physical ache. "Is there any bread with that?"

"Umm," Tony poked around in the bag, "I don't think so. Crackers," he said, tossing them on the table, "but I think bread isn't sick-person friendly, and at the time I thought you were sick, so."

"Yeah that makes sense. I'll just uh- go get changed."

"Mhmm." Tony nodded, unpacking the soup and trying to get the crackers to stack up in a single pile, but they kept sliding off.

Peter watched him a second longer before he left for his room. He thought about closing his door while he changed, but dismissed it as unnecessary, since it's not like Tony was going to wander around and ogle him-- though god he wished Tony wanted to. He paused as he was about to pull on a new shirt, Tony's scent stronger for a minute than it had been. He shook it off after a second when it seemed to dissipate again. It was just because Tony was here, he told himself. It's not that anything else was happening. When he got back to the living room, dressed in sweatpants and a ratty sleep shirt, Tony was fiddling uselessly with one of the spoons. Peter was almost certainly imagining the blush on his face. "You okay?"

"Yep," Tony said, a little too quickly. He glanced at Peter before his eyes darted away again.

Peter took a surreptitious look around as he took the seat next to Tony, making sure Wade hadn't left a monster dildo laying around or anything equally embarrassing, but there was nothing. Tony handed him the spoon he'd been messing with, the metal warm from his skin. "What do you want to watch?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

Peter tried to sigh for the sake of making a joke, but he just laughed as he reached for his laptop. "Avengers Assemble, it is."

* * *

He woke slowly, not even awake enough to be aware that he could talk. He purred lowly, snuggling against the warmth underneath him and moving towards what was surely the best smell on the face of the planet. It didn't smell like chocolate chip cookies smelled, but it smelled the way chocolate chip cookies felt. Like warmth and happiness, like your life couldn't possibly get any better than it was in that instant.

The body under his stirred, then tensed as it woke, no longer as relaxed as it had been in sleep. "Peter?" he asked, voice rough from sleep and barely a word at all, but Peter recognized it as himself.

He purred a little louder, tucking his nose where the scent was most concentrated. The person under him tensed further, and he frowned, wiggling around to cover them more fully so they'd feel safe. His purr changed to a rumble, but that only seemed to make it worse. The person tried to move a little, but he didn't really want them to leave, and anyways he was too heavy for them to slip away. They stopped after a few seconds and hesitantly reached a hand up to run a hand soothingly through Peter's hair. He started to rumble happily but pulled up short when the other person started to talk.

"Peter? You're uh- you're keeping me warm and, and safe but I need to get up."

He made a dismissive noise.

"I have to go to the bathroom, and I don't think you want me to do that right here."

Grumbling, Peter moved off of him, but still close enough that he was entirely in Tony's space. If he was anywhere close to his normal brain, he would have recognized that he was acting strangely, but as it was he was too busy pouting over not having full body contact with Tony anymore.

Tony slowly made his way to the bathroom, giving Peter a firm look when he tried to walk in with him. "No." He poked a finger against the middle of Peter's chest and pushed. "You can stay out here while I go; it'll only be a minute."

"Hmph." Peter leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest to wait when Tony shut the door and locked it. He thought it was a bit excessive to spend that long washing your hands, but whatever. The water shut off and he straightened, but Tony didn't come out.

"Uh, listen Peter, you're going into a rut-" Peter didn't feel like he was "-and I know you won't force me into anything, but maybe I should call Happy to pick me up."

Peter had to swallow back a whine. He swallowed and worked his tongue, trying to get himself in a position where he could actually speak. "Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Will you come out?"

Instead of answering, the lock clicked and he opened the door. Peter bit his cheek so he didn't immediately reach out and pull Tony against him. Now that he was more awake, it was easier to control himself. A little. Mostly what was stopping him was the fact that Tony seemed nervous around him.

Tony wasn't big on personal space, so he rolled his eyes when Peter tried to give him three feet at all times after he came out of the bathroom. "C'mon Peter," he said slinging an arm around his shoulders, "I trust you."

Peter didn't go back to tucking his nose in Tony's neck-- that was too personal and Tony should have smacked him upside the head for doing it earlier-- but he sat close and held Tony when he leaned into it.

He tapped out a message to Happy, asking for him to pick him up at Peter's place, then set his phone to the side as he snuggled up to Peter. He purred a little as he rubbed into it, then sighed. "You should do this when you're not going into a rut. You're comfy." They sat like that for a while, until Tony's phone dinged. He gave it the stink eye, but grabbed it all the same. "Happy's here."

"Guess you should go."

"Yeah."

Neither of them moved. Tony sighed when his phone dinged again. "Yeah yeah." He reached for his shoes, sliding them on. "Let me know if you need anything okay? And for the love of science, don't step outside, even if it's the apocalypse. The last thing we need is for Jameson to decide that you're 'back' to your menacing ways when you're too dumb to realize that you should stay at home."

Peter made a pouty face in his direction even though Tony wasn't looking at him. There was no need to be rude, even if it was extremely accurate to assume that Peter would try and leave without proper motivation to stay at home. In theory, that motivation was someone in his bed to keep him company. In practice, it was Wade, who kept him distracted with video games and sex jokes and brought him so much mexican food that he didn't have to think about what his next meal was going to be for even a second. "I miss Wade," he said, the words slipping out involuntarily.

Tony froze for a split second, and when he talked again it was obvious that he wasn't as happy as he had been ten seconds ago. "He'd come back to New York if you asked him, you know."

"He didn't bring his normal phone with him, and he didn't tell me where he was going."

"I can look him up for you when your rut is over, if you want."

Peter waved the idea off, frowning at the way Tony was now in a hurry to leave. "No that's-"

"Okay see you later!" Tony called out quickly, shutting the door behind him with a sharp sense of finality.

"-that's fine," Peter finished. He frowned some more, wondering what Happy had said in that text to make Tony run away like a fire was chasing him. Oh well. He'd ask him about it when his rut was over if he thought about. It was probably nothing, but, well, he worried. He groaned, planting his face in the couch and inhaling deeply. Tony's scent was everywhere in the apartment right now, and Peter felt, with a mix of dread and anticipation, that it would effect him in some way during this rut. His blood started to pulse south, and he thanked his body for waiting until Tony was gone to start doing this.

* * *

Peter texted Tony to say that his rut was over and he should be back on the streets-- or over the streets as the case might be-- in the next couple days.

Tony's response was to ask if he could come over.

Peter didn't see a reason to say no-- at least not one that could easily be explained-- so he said yes. He didn't feel like putting on the suit just so he could swing over, so he took the subway. When Tony sent an innocent query about where he was, Peter told him that he'd taken the subway and would be there soon.

**_...Peter I'm at your apartment._ **

**What?**

_**I asked to come over and you said yes** _

**...**

**I may have misunderstood**

_**You think?** _

_**I'll drive back, let yourself in** _

_**Or Jarvis will let you in, whichever.** _

**Okay. Sorry.**

He didn't get a text back, which he chose to interpret as Tony being in the car, not Tony being annoyed by him. To kill time while he walked, he looked through his texts and reread the message from Tony. In his own defense, it was rather ambiguous even if it did lean more towards Tony being right.

He knew Tony wouldn't mind if he ate some food-- not to mention that Jarvis told him to go ahead and eat as much as he liked-- so scanned the fridge for leftovers. Most people knew better than to try and keep Chinese take-out for the next day, so that was definitely Clint's fault. He steered clear and pulled out a casserole, not even bothering to heat it before he dug in.

By the time Tony showed up, he had polished it off, along with three bowls of cereal and was working on a quart of strawberries. He waved sheepishly around a full mouth. "I'm trying to get my strength back."

"I gathered," Tony said, looking amused at the empty dishes around him. "I saw your fridge the other day, and I think you had a lemon and a bottle of mustard."

"Not all of us are billionaires."

"Are you telling me that poor people can survive off mustard and the presence of a lemon? Cause if you're not, I'm calling bullshit. I will buy you food Peter. I will set up a weekly grocery delivery, for the love of god let me do that, I'm about to cry."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Did you want to talk about something?" he asked, changing the subject, because talking about the finer points of his food intake was not something he wanted to do.

"Right." Tony took a deep breath, crossing his arms then uncrossing them because it seemed a little too confrontational. "Are you and Wade together?"

"Uh no. Definitely not. Why would you think that?"

"Before I left the other day, you said a couple things, I just thought- never mind." And then he started to walk away like that was the end of it.

Peter rushed over, stopping him with a hand on his arm. "Did I do something?"

"What?"

"You're running away, that kinda makes me think I did something."

Tony sighed. "You didn't do anything."

Peter waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. "Okay, then what's wrong?"

Tony looked at him for a long moment. Peter's heart beat a little faster at the way Tony was looking through him, like he could see his every emotion laid bare. "You don't know do you?" Tony asked quietly. "You have no idea."

"No idea about what?"

"About how when I flirt with you I'm not joking."

Peter blinked. "I- what?"

"Look," Tony said, swallowing, "I'm sorry that I stormed out the other day, but I was jealous and at the time I thought you were dating Wade so. God this isn't how I meant to say any of this, I'm fucking it all up."

"You... like me," Peter said disbelievingly, half expecting for Tony to tell him no, what the fuck why would he think that.

Tony gave him a flat look, his tone dry as he said, "No, I just decided to stay with you when you started going into a rut instead of doing the smart thing and leaving as soon as possible."

"You had to wait for your ride," Peter said weakly.

"Peter, if you don't like me, I need you to say it."

Peter just blinked.

"You're not really helping me out here."

"Sorry I'm just trying to process. You like me?"

"Yes. Although you think I would have gotten the hint when you felt you couldn't tell me the truth about running out of suppressants, but--"

"I stayed away because of you," Peter blurted.

There was a flash of hurt on Tony's face, but Peter kept talking before he could respond.

"I ran out of my suppressants, and I didn't trust myself to be around you like everything was normal without them, so I stayed away. Of course that didn't work because then you just showed up at my apartment and I had to keep from breathing too deeply so that I wouldn't get turned on in front of you, but then your scent was everywhere when I was going into my rut and I know that I should have just gone to my room instead of picturing you the whole time but I didn't. I'm kind of not a good friend."

"Hold on. You're telling me that this entire time you've liked me too?"

"That's all you took from that?"

"It was the important part. Well, the most important part I should say because believe me, I want details about that later."

"Tony," Peter whined.

He was expecting for Tony to say something about how no, he wasn't going to forget about it any time soon so Peter should stop trying. He was not expecting for Tony to put a hand on the back of his neck and get on his tiptoes to kiss him. He was certainly not complaining though. It took a second for the shock to wear off, and when it did he leaned down, curving an arm around Tony's waist and pulling him closer.

When Tony pulled away, he tucked his face in Peter's neck, nosing at his bonding gland and making Peter shiver, his hold on Tony tightening reflexively. "God Tony."

Tony ran his lips over his skin, tongue flicking out to taste him.

"If you keep doing that," Peter said, voice rough with arousal, "I'm going to make a mess in my pants."

"We can't have that," Tony said, not moving from where he was. "It would make much more sense to make a mess in me."

Peter shuddered. "Where's your room."

Tony grinned, taking his hand and leading the way. "It was the soup wasn't it."

"What?" Peter asked, completely thrown by the subject change.

"The soup. That's what made you like me."

He snorted. "Yes Tony that's exactly what it was."

"I knew it," he said smugly.


End file.
